Creationism Today by Andrew Miles
Creationism is a broad term that encompasses many different
theories from believing that the world is flat to using scientific
occurrences to back up religious beliefs but all believe that life
occurred or was created by a higher power (ie God). However, here I
shall be discussing only a few of the main creationist theories that
exist today and the arguments used by believers against evolution. I
shall also contribute and discuss my view about creationism today.
Despite the apparent domination of the theory of evolution when it
comes to our existence, creationism is still popular throughout the
world although more in some places than in others. For example, in
Europe evolution is the most common whereas in the Middle East it is
the opposite. However, it is not always one or the other in America
there is a very mixed view on which is the “correct” theory which has
lead to various legislations dictating what can and cannot be taught in
schools [1].
One of the more popular theories that is included under the general
term of creationism is Young-Earth creationism (YEC). YEC’s believe,
as written in the Bible, “that the Earth is 6000 to 10000 years old, that
all life was created in six literal days, that death and decay came as a
result of Adam & Eve's Fall, and that geology must be interpreted in
terms of Noah's Flood” [2] including the fossil record. Despite this
literal reading of the Bible, YEC’s still believe in a heliocentric (sun-
centred) solar system. It was the YEC’s who, in America, started the
push to have creationism taught in schools instead of evolution. This
was obviously met with much controversy in America and indeed by
the rest of the world. The YEC’s and other creationist groups are now
pushing for the requirement of both evolution and “scientific
alternatives” to be taught in schools.
In recent years one such group joining the “scientific alternatives” or
“creation science” front are the Intelligent Design (ID) creationists. ID